Patent Application
20250160483
This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) on Patent Application No(s). 112145011 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Nov. 21, 2023, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure provides an insole and an adaptation method thereof, and in particular to a biomechanics insole for pressure reduction, buffering, force dispersion, support, fixation and stabilization for a foot of a user and an adaptation method thereof.
Common commercially available shoes are provided in various different sizes but only one fixed version for users to choose from, and are unable to meet current user requirements due to the lack of adaptation to specific differences of feet of individual users. Most of the users who have no access to properly fitting shoes can even suffer from symptoms of sore feet.
Moreover, common commercially available insoles are mostly made of a cushioning material in a simple form of one layer, and are used for buffering or height padding between feet and shoe bodies without providing other special functions.
In sports of various sport categories, in particular for athletes of professional competitive sports, insoles are frequently used to enhance sports performance, for example, reducing deviations, increasing ball speed and distance, reducing muscle stress, improving foot posture and reducing foot pain. In addition to enhancing sports performance, such insoles can also provide ankles and knees of the general public doing sports with effects of protection and injury prevention. Thus, insoles are considered necessary equipment of general users as well as common reserve equipment for users with health promotion needs.
Due to foot features of individual users, such as different lengths, arches, widths and arch positions, if customization cannot be provided for these foot features, parameters and requirements of individual users, functions of insoles cannot be fully practiced. Moreover, for insoles that reliably reduce pressure and offer relief and support, in addition to purely providing appropriate thickness and firmness in regions subject to large forces and high pressures, various special structures are also needed to provide functions of pressure reduction, buffering, support and fixation.
Therefore, for individual users with an extensive range of requirements, there is a need for a solution to provide customized insoles which are properly fitting and functional and/or provide rehabilitation and health care for foot diseases, and customized insoles which improve comfort, reduce burdens on muscles and joints and enhance sports performance, thereby reducing burdens of sports or meeting injury prevention for general users.
In view of the above, the present disclosure provides a biomechanics insole for pressure reduction, buffering, force dispersion, support, fixation and stabilization for a foot of a user and an adaptation method thereof according to foot features and foot parameters of the user.
An biomechanics insole is provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The biomechanics insole includes: a forefoot portion, including a forefoot protrusion and at least one forefoot recess disposed at a part of the forefoot protrusion; an arch portion, connected to the forefoot portion, the arch portion including a first arch protrusion disposed at a part of the arch portion, a second arch protrusion disposed at another part of the arch portion, and a third arch protrusion disposed at yet another part of the arch portion; and a heel portion, connected to the arch portion, the heel portion including a heel recess and a heel protrusion disposed around the heel recess.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot protrusion has a convex protrusion feature.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot recess is two in quantity, which are respectively disposed on both sides of the forefoot protrusion.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot recess is provided with a peripheral feature, which surrounds the forefoot recess and has a height.
In the biomechanics insole above, a part of the arch portion is located at a middle position of the arch portion, and the first arch protrusion has a water drop feature.
In the biomechanics insole above, another part of the arch portion is located an on inner side of the arch portion, and the second arch protrusion has an extension length.
In the biomechanics insole above, yet another part of the arch portion is located on an outer side of the arch portion, and the third arch protrusion and the heel protrusion form a depression in between.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot portion further includes a back recess disposed on the other surface with respect to the forefoot protrusion.
The biomechanics insole above further includes a forefoot bottom pad adapted at the back recess.
In the biomechanics insole above, the heel portion further includes a back protrusion disposed on the other surface of the heel portion with respect to the heel recess.
The biomechanics insole above further includes an insole surface fabric covering surfaces of the forefoot portion, the arch portion and the heel portion, wherein the insole surface fabric is a piece of graphene fabric.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot portion has a forefoot width, the arch portion has an arch width, the heel portion has a heel width, and the forefoot width, the arch width and the heel width are adjustable.
In the biomechanics insole above, the forefoot width, the arch width and the heel width have a plurality of standardized adaptive insole size ranges.
The biomechanics insole above further includes a support insole skeleton including: a skeleton body; a fitting portion, adapted at back surfaces of the arch portion and the heel portion, the fitting portion adapted to be fitted at the back surfaces of the arch portion and the heel portion; an indentation, disposed at a part of the skeleton body corresponding to the heel potion; wherein a material hardness of the skeleton body is greater than a material hardness of the biomechanics insole, and wherein the support insole skeleton is for supporting the biomechanics insole.
In the biomechanics insole above, wherein the skeleton body has a skeleton length, a skeleton width and a skeleton height.
An adaptation method for a biomechanics insole is provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The adaptation method includes: acquiring a foot size parameter and an arch feature parameter of a target foot; determining the skeleton length of the support insole skeleton of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and the arch feature parameter; determining the skeleton width of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and a footwear type; and determining the skeleton height of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and the arch feature parameter.
In the adaptation method for a biomechanics insole above, the foot size parameter includes a full foot length, a central mid-foot length, an inner mid-foot length, an outer mid-foot length, a forefoot width, a mid-foot width, a rearfoot width and a hallux valgus angle.
In the adaptation method for a biomechanics insole above, the arch feature parameter includes an arch width, an inner arch vertex height, an outer arch vertex height and an arch index.
In the adaptation method for a biomechanics insole above, the skeleton width and the skeleton height have a plurality of standardized adaptive skeleton size ranges.
The biomechanics insole and the adaptation method for a biomechanics insole, with the special structural features of the forefoot portion, the arch portion and the heel portion, provides functions of biomechanics including pressure reduction, buffering, force dispersion, support, fixation and stabilization for a foot of a user, thereby achieving effects of improved comfort, reduced burdens on muscles and joints and enhanced sports performance, or achieving injury prevention for general users. Moreover, by acquiring the foot features of individual users, for example, foot size parameters and arch feature parameters such as the length, curvature and width, insoles of biomechanics of different specifications and support insole skeletons thereof close to user requirements can be provided with respect to the related parameters. In addition, with the plurality of standardized adaptive skeleton size ranges of the insoles of biomechanics and the support insole skeletons thereof, effective adaptation to most user requirements can be implemented to provide customized standardized insoles and the support insole skeletons thereof close to individual users, hence achieving effects of adaptation for specifications of individual users and at the same time meeting customization as well as being readily mass produced at reduced costs.
The technical contents of the present disclosure are to be further described in detail by way of embodiments with the accompanying drawings below. It should be noted that, in the present disclosure of the literature, terms such as “first”, “second” and “third” are used to distinguish differences among elements, and are not to be construed as limiting to the elements themselves or specific orders of the elements. Moreover, in the present disclosure of the literature, a specific number is specified, the article “a/an/one” refers to one element or more.
To facilitate understanding of the object, characteristics and effects of this present disclosure, embodiments together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the present disclosure are provided.
The forefoot portion 100 includes a forefoot protrusion 110 and at least one forefoot recess 120 and 130, wherein the forefoot recesses 120 and 130 are disposed at a part of the forefoot protrusion 110. In one embodiment, the forefoot protrusion 110 has a protruding convex feature used for a last gait stage during walking or running of a user. In this stage, in order to lift toes off the ground and propel the body forward, the forefoot of the sole is subject to excessive force as a result of exercising or prolonged walking, and foot calluses or pain or frequent wear of a forefoot part of an insole can be easily caused. Thus, the forefoot protrusion 110 is configured with a thickened and protruding design, so as to meet bone arrangement and structure of the sole and to reinforce the effect of pressure reduction. In one embodiment, there are two forefoot recesses 120 and 130 respectively disposed on both sides of the forefoot protrusion 110. In particular, the forefoot recess 120 is disposed at a first knuckle of the hallux (big toe), and the forefoot recess 130 is disposed at the fifth metacarpal joint, so as to correspondingly receive the joints and evenly disperse a force received. In one embodiment, the forefoot recesses 120 and 130 can have peripheral features, which surround the forefoot recesses 120 and 130 and have a height. In one embodiment, the height is 2 mm. Further, a convex line is used for widening and thickening at peripheries of the forefoot recesses, and in particular lower edges (that is, the end connected to the arch portion 200), for example, a 2 mm U-shaped convex line, is used as a bottom for stabilizing landing and preventing joints from sliding easily during walking or running of a user. In addition, the U-shaped protruding design at the lower edge can also provide a force application point and a propulsion focus point during propulsion.
The arch portion 200 is connected to the forefoot portion 100, and includes a first arch protrusion 210, a second arch protrusion 220 and a third arch protrusion 230. The first arch protrusion 210 is disposed at a part of the arch portion 220, the second arch protrusion 220 is disposed at another part of the arch portion 200, and the third arch protrusion 230 is disposed at yet another part of the arch portion 200.
The first arch protrusion 210, the second arch protrusion 220 and the third arch protrusion 200 are respectively disposed at three different parts of the arch portion 200. With the multiple protrusion at different parts, the arch of the foot is provided with support and stable fixation.
In one embodiment, a part of the arch portion 200 is located at a middle position of the arch portion 200, that is, the first arch protrusion 210 is disposed at the middle position of the arch portion 200, and in particularly the middle position of a foot tripod the foot structure behind the forefoot joints. In one embodiment, the first arch protrusion 210 has a water drop feature for a design of a transverse water drop pad for the foot tripod of the foot structure behind the forefoot joints. Thus, on top of supporting the forefoot transverse arch and adjusting the line of center of gravity of the body to move forward, an original function of the transverse arch of propulsion for walking can also be reconstructed. In addition, based on the meridian principle of traditional Chinese medicine, the position of the transverse arch is also the Yongchuen point (foot-shaoyin kidney meridian) and pericardial point on the sole of foot, so that these traditional Chinese medicine acupoints can also be stimulated and massaged by protrusions.
In one embodiment, the another part of the arch portion 200 is located on one side of the arch portion 200, that is, the second arch protrusion 220 is disposed on one side of the arch portion 200, for example, an inner side of the arch portion 200. The inner side corresponds to an inner arch position of the human sole of foot. The second arch protrusion 220 is for offering reinforced buffering and support for the inner arch of the foot, and providing and reconstructing originally expected functional structure of supporting the inner arch during walking or running of a user, hence satisfying the required function of pressure reduction, buffering and shock absorption. In one embodiment, the second arch protrusion 220 has an extension length to provide a longer support and buffering structure and make up a curvature of the inner arch of the foot.
In one embodiment, the yet another part of the arch portion 200 is located on one side of the arch portion 200, that is, the third arch protrusion 230 is disposed on the other side of the arch portion 200, for example, an outer side of the arch portion 200. The outer side corresponds to an outer arch position of the human sole of foot. The third arch protrusion 230 is for offering reinforced buffering and support for the outer arch of the foot, and providing and reconstructing an originally expected functional structure of supporting the outer arch during standing, walking or running of a user, hence satisfying the required function for still balancing and stabilization.
The heel portion 300 is connected to the arch portion 200, and includes a recess 310 and heel protrusions 311 and 312, wherein the heel protrusions 311 and 312 are disposed around the recess 310. The calcaneal bone, which bears 57% of an original force of the heel, is allowed to fall into recess during standing and footwear wearing. In coordination of the heel protrusions 311 and 312 disposed around the recess 310 at the heel, soft tissues of the sole of the heel can be better concentrated, providing original pressure reduction of the soft pad of the heel of the body, and help the use for landing of the heel during walking or running as well as movements of prolonged standing and running marathon. Moreover, with the heel protrusions 311 and 312 disposed around the recess 310 at the heel 310 in coordination with the heel protrusion 311 in shape of an annular transverse strip protrusion, a user can be assisted to land steadily and joints of the heel are prevented from sliding easily during walking or running. Thus, the heel can be more stabilized at a heel port of a shoe, hence reducing friction of the sole during walking or running. In one embodiment, the heel portion 300 in overall has a recessed curvature and has a cup-shape, and the recess 310 at the heel is placed at a bottom of the cup-shape, so that the heel portion 330 in overall having a cup-shape curve can steadily support the heel of foot, and at the same time further provide support, reduce friction and disperse pressure by the structural features above.
In one embodiment, the third arch protrusion 230 and the heel protrusions 311 and 312 form a depression in between. With this depression, a depressed region is formed between the protrusion bases of the five metacarpal bones and the protrusion of the heel, hence helping a user to land steadily during walking of running and preventing joints from sliding easily. Moreover, with the various protruding structures above, in addition to meet musculoskeletal biomechanics in Western medicine, medical care of meridian points in traditional Chinese medicine and benefits of acupoint foot massage in preventive medicine are also provided.
In one embodiment, the forefoot portion 100 includes a back recess 150. The back recess 150 is disposed on the other surface of the forefoot portion 100 with respect to the forefoot protrusion 110, that is, disposed on a back surface of the biomechanics insole 10, thereby additionally providing a completely extending bottom reinforcement component for the big toe, as well as coordinating with the forefoot protrusion 110 and the forefoot recesses 120 and 130 on the front surface for a multiplied function of pressure reduction in combination. In one embodiment, the biomechanics insole 10 further includes a forefoot bottom pad 20, with details thereof to be described shortly.
In one embodiment, the heel portion 300 of the biomechanics insole 10 further includes a back protrusion 350. The back protrusion 350 is disposed on the other surface of the heel portion 300 with respect to the heel recess 310, and that is, disposed on the back surface of the biomechanics insole 10. In one embodiment, the back protrusion 350 has a size corresponding to the heel recess 310. Thus, with the design of the back protrusion 350, for example, a design of a circular protrusion for the heel and a design with a doubled thickness, the heel can be provided with greater pressure reduction and stabilization. In particular, for patients with heel spurs or plantar fasciitis and individuals with unstable ankles that get twisted easily, the heel can be further provided with pressure reduction and stabilization.
In one embodiment, the protrusions above (for example, the forefoot protrusion 110, the first arch protrusion 210, the second arch protrusion 220, the third arch protrusion 230, the heel protrusion 311 and/or the heel protrusion 312) can be further buried with magnets or other materials so as to provide further functions. In one embodiment, special materials, for example, thermoplastic rubber (TPR) can also be used on the surface of the biomechanics insole 10 to increase anti-slip.
The forefoot bottom pad 20 has a shape adapted to the back recess 150, that is, the forefoot bottom pad 20 is adaptively received in the back recess 150. The forefoot bottom pad 20 can include four regions, which are respectively a forefoot knuckle force receiving region 21, a hallux force receiving region 22, a hallux metacarpophalangeal joint force receiving region 23, a fifth metacarpophalangeal joint force receiving region 24. In one embodiment, the forefoot bottom pad 20 is one single piece of material for an overall pressure reduction function. In another embodiment, the forefoot bottom pad 20 can provide reinforced or functional materials for the different regions above according to different requirements, for example, using different materials in different regions so as to differentiate pressure reduction effects for these different regions.
In one embodiment, the forefoot portion 100 has a forefoot width, the arch portion 200 has an arch width, the heel portion 300 has a heel width, and the forefoot width, the arch width and the heel width are adjustable. Thus, the biomechanics insole 10 can be provided in different sizes for different requirements.
In one embodiment, the forefoot width, the arch width and the heel width have a plurality of standardized adaptive insole size ranges. Thus, according to the sizes of special requirements, standardized ranges for mass production can be provided while standardization and processization can be achieved, and at the same time, requirements of both production mold costs and different adapted insole sizes can be attended.
In one embodiment, the biomechanics insole 10 further includes an insole surface fabric 11 covering surfaces of the forefoot portion 100, the arch portion 200 and the heel portion 300. In one embodiment, the insole surface fabric 11 is a piece of graphene fabric. With the physical and chemical properties of graphene and the properties of far-infrared radiation, feet and toes at the end of the limbs are provided with a warming environment, so as to further promote blood circulation at the feet and toes at the end of the limbs and reduce risks of such as subsequent complications including amputation and wound caused by poor peripheral blood circulation.
In one embodiment, the biomechanics insole 10 further includes a support insole skeleton 30. The support insole skeleton 30 includes a skeleton body, a fitting portion and an indentation. The support insole skeleton 30 is also referred to as, for example, a ¾ foot support skeleton insole. In addition to the pressure reduction function provided by the soft biomechanics insole 10, a semi-hard elastic functional insole with support is further provided as the support insole skeleton 30, so as to further provide functions of securing, support and stabilization. The fitting portion is adapted at the back surfaces of the arch portion and the heel portion, and is adapted to be fitted at the back surfaces of the arch portion and the heel portion. It should be noted that the drawings are merely examples and do not depict the specific structural relationships or curvature. In one embodiment, the fitting portion is adapted at the back surfaces of the arch portion, the heel portion and a part of the forefoot portion. The indentation is disposed at a part of the skeleton body corresponding to the heel portion. A material hardness of the skeleton body is greater than a material hardness of the biomechanics insole 10. The support insole skeleton 30 is for supporting the biomechanics insole 10.
In one embodiment, the biomechanics insole 10 can further include an auxiliary bottom pad 25 for other requirements such as reinforced buffering, reinforced fixation and reinforced support, to provide elastic auxiliary functions for the biomechanics insole 10 and the support insole skeleton 30.
In one embodiment, the skeleton body has a skeleton length, a skeleton width and a skeleton height. The skeleton length and the skeleton width are a projection length and a projection width of the skeleton body on a plane, and the skeleton height is a projection height between a highest point and lowest point on a perpendicular plane. In one embodiment, the size parameter of the skeleton body further includes a long-axis curvature and a short-axis curvature of the fitting portion. The long-axis direction is parallel to a direction of the skeleton length, the short-axis direction is parallel to a direction of the skeleton width, the long-axis curvature allows the skeleton body to have a fitting portion shape corresponding to an arch curvature of the foot and can be adapted at the biomechanics insole and provide the foot with support and fixation, and the short-axis curvature allows the skeleton body to have a fitting portion shape corresponding to the width of the foot and can be adapted at the biomechanics insole and provide transverse support and fixation.
An adaptation method for a biomechanics insole according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes: (S110) acquiring a foot size parameter and an arch feature parameter of a target foot; (S120) determining the skeleton length of the support insole skeleton of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and the arch feature parameter; (S130) determining the skeleton width of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and a footwear type; and (S140) determining the skeleton height of the biomechanics insole above according to the foot size parameter and the arch feature parameter.
In one embodiment, the foot size parameter includes a full foot length, a central mid-foot length, an inner mid-foot length, an outer mid-foot length, a forefoot width, a mid-foot width, a rearfoot width and a hallux valgus angle. In one embodiment, the arch feature parameter includes a arch width, an inner arch vertex height, an outer arch vertex height and an arch index. Thus, by acquiring the foot size parameters and arch feature parameters related to the foot features of a user, a biomechanically adapted insole completely meeting foot requirements of a user. In one embodiment, the skeleton width, the skeleton height and the skeleton
height have a plurality of standardized adaptive skeleton size ranges. Thus, with usage analysis on large databases suitable for foot patterns of Asians, a quantity of 58,473 effective samples are collected and calculated, and a total of 116,946 foot patterns are consolidated and analyzed. For each of left and right feet, over ten foot key measurement positions, data and angles of including such as full foot length, central foot length, inner mid-foot length, outer mid-foot length, forefoot width, mid-foot width, rearfoot length, inner arch vertex position, hallux valgus angle, and arch index are obtained, and a plurality of standardized adaptive ranges are accordingly adjusted and provided, so as to provide a plurality of standardized size specifications for the biomechanics insole and the support insole skeleton, and to integrate into key values of foot patterns corresponding to European insole size standards, hence achieving a plurality of adaptive ranges.
For example, according to different sports types or purposes desired by a user, the width is divided into three widths including narrow width, normal width and wide width. For example, the arch height can be divided into three heights, which can be separated adapted for the biomechanics insole, separately adapted for the support insole skeleton or used in combination with two of the above. Thus, under each basis size, there are at least 18 to over 27 changes, which are combined with 8 sizes as the basis shoe sizes, and hundreds of variations of adaptation ranges can be formed in combinations to effectively adapt to foot features of various users.
The biomechanics insole and the adaptation method for a biomechanics insole of the present disclosure, by acquiring foot features of individual users, for example, tens of key foot parameters including foot size parameters such as the length, curvature and width and arch feature parameters, can provide biomechanics insoles and the support insole skeletons thereof in different specifications close to user requirements with respect to the related parameters. Moreover, with the special structural features of the forefoot portion, the arch portion and the heel portion and the correspondingly adapted support insole skeletons, biomechanics functions including pressure reduction, buffering, force dispersion, support, fixation and stabilization can be provided for a foot of a user, thereby achieving effects of improved comfort, reduced burdens on muscles and joints and enhanced sports performance, or achieving injury prevention for general users.
In addition, with the plurality of standardized adaptive skeleton size ranges of the biomechanics insoles of and the support insole skeletons thereof, effective adaptation to most user requirements can be implemented to provide customized standardized biomechanics insoles and the support insole skeletons thereof in specifications close to individual users, hence achieving effects of adaptation for specifications of individual users and at the same time meeting customization as well as being readily mass produced at reduced costs, so as to reliably meet customization requirements of individual users while attending to production and mold efficiency.
In one embodiment, to acquire the foot size parameter and the foot feature parameter of the target foot above, the foot size parameter and the foot feature parameter of the target foot can be acquired by means of stores, a user and merchant face to face, an input via an electronic device by a user, photos or videos taken by a user by using an electronic device.
The present invention is described by way of the preferred embodiments above. A person skilled in the art should understand that, these embodiments are merely for describing the present invention are not to be construed as limitations to the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that all equivalent changes, replacements and substitutions made to the embodiments are to be encompassed within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection of the present disclosure should be accorded with the broadest interpretation of the appended claims, so as to encompass all modifications and similar arrangements and processes.
While the present disclosure has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure set forth in the claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 112145011 | Nov 2023 | TW | national |
